Love Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be
by Schadenfreudessa
Summary: Antonia Geneviève Stark was by no means a normal woman. With enough power in her chest to run an entire building and a history of surviving seemingly insurmountable problems, those weren't' even the most amazing things. She claimed the most impressive thing about herself was her mind. Most everyone else thought that it was her willingness to take in a former psychotic villain.
1. Never Could Get the Hang of Thursdays

Antonia Geneviève Stark was by no means a normal woman. With enough power in her chest to run an entire building and a history of surviving seemingly insurmountable problems, those weren't' even the most amazing things. She claimed the most impressive thing about herself was her mind. Most everyone else thought that it was her willingness to take in a former psychotic villain.

And have great and amazing hate sex, but that really didn't surprise anyone.

It started about seven months after the failed New York invasion. Thor had taken his errant brother away, the other Avengers had moved into the tower, new super-villains started popping up every week, and Toni continued on in her playgirl lifestyle (to Steve's disappointment).

Then a Thursday happened, and there were suddenly two Norse gods standing on the balcony of Avengers Tower as the rest of the team stared on in varying degrees of shock and disbelief. JARVIS let the two aliens (still bedecked in armor and capes) into the common room, thoroughly interrupting the movie everyone had been watching.

Thor was all smiles and bouncing energy, like a puppy on uppers. Loki just looked bored, though it was hard to tell with that muzzle on his face. Toni wondered if it had ever been removed or if he had been wearing it for the last seven months. She puzzled over this for a long and slightly drunken moment, staring curiously at the dark-haired god before he turned suddenly meeting her gaze. It was a bit intimidating, but Tony just winked like the flirt she was before turning her attention back to his blonde brother.

He was saying something about Loki already having served his punishment and was now on Earth to make amends or something. Then Toni realized that Thor intended for the both the gods to stay in the tower, and she was really not okay with that. But Thor still had that energetic puppy thing going on, and Steve was already agreeing (not that it was his decision to make) and Tony decided to finally speak up.

"Woah woah woah, shouldn't this be my call. I mean, it's my name on the building after all, and my money that built it". Steve looked a bit scandalized, then sheepish, but Thor just turned to the much smaller woman and kneeled.

"Lady Stark, please forgive my error. I meant no offence". Thor kept his head bowed as Toni just blinked at him. Well, it was certainly not the first time a guy had gone down for her, but it was the first time a god had. She actually sort of enjoyed it. "I ask humbly that you allow my brother and I to stay with you, as there is no other place easily available to us, and I count you all as friends and would prefer your company".

Thor continued rambling on about something or other, but Toni already figured that maybe this could be a bit of fun. And that she wouldn't kick Thor out to fend for himself, even if it meant accepting his obnoxious brother too. She liked the blonde too much to just turn him away. Toni looked to Loki then, measuring him up as she took a sip of some smooth and expensive scotch.

He looked relatively manageable with that muzzle still on, but then he caught her gaze. There was a smirk glowing there, but it wasn't as intimidating as that crazy rage that had been there before. Then he was rolling his eyes at something Thor said, and Tony couldn't help but to snort into her drink.

Toni just waved off more of Thor's pleas, smiling wickedly at him. "You can stay, Lightening Rod, though you'll have to call me Toni. We already have a floor in the tower set up for you, though you'll have to share with your brother. Wannabe world conquerors don't get their own place".

Thor was grinning. "Thank you kindly, friend Toni".

Then Toni was showing the two gods around her tower, showing them their rooms as Clint and Natasha trailed around suspiciously. Steve had decided to head to the kitchen and start on dinner, and Bruce had retreated to his lab. Toni showed their new residents all the shared floors with gym space and pools and fun things. Next they rode down to Thor's floor, which was pretty basic except for all the furniture was a bit larger and sturdier than average.

Introducing JARVIS proved to be really fun, as the AI's voice startled Thor a bit and nearly had Loki jumping in confusion. Toni just gave a simple explanation of a ghost that lived in the structure of the tower, watching and monitoring everything. That left Thor looking uncomfortable until she promised that JARVIS didn't watch and tell.

Toni left then, letting them settle in after inviting them to join the team for dinner. She had new security protocols to install now that Loki was staying in the tower. JARVIS would pay special attention to everything the god did, but Toni decided to add in instructions that anytime Loki indulged in 'suspicious activities' she would be informed.

Writing up the exact code for the new protocols took up a fair bit of time, and when she was finished, it was only a few minutes before Steve was to announce dinner. Not really having time to start in on another project, Toni just ambled back upstairs to crash out at the dining table in the kitchen. Steve was happily setting out food like a good little housewife, and the sight of it made the only mildly sober genius snort.

But then everyone else was sitting down, taking their normal places as Steve continued to serve. Thor and Loki showed up too, the blonde dragging over some extra chairs for them both. Tony noticed that Loki was still wearing the muzzle, and while it certainly didn't bother her a bit, it was rather odd. However, tonight was lasagna night, and so Toni was soon distracted by the food being shoveled onto her plate.

After eating, Thor was very loud in appreciating there meal, and his zealousness made both Toni and Bruce laugh. Toni herself was certainly stuffed; she had overeaten after several days of living off only coffee and scotch. Then Toni's notice was drawn again to Loki, who was sitting quietly and peacefully between her and Thor.

The trickster couldn't have eaten at all with that muzzle on, she knew. And he was certainly eyeing the few leftovers on her plate, though he was trying to be subtle about it. Then she heard the very faint but distinctive noise of a stomach rumbling from hunger. Toni watched the god shift to press a hand over his belly, as if that would somehow ease his appetite. She actually felt rather bad about eating in front of him now; it hardly seemed fair.

Plus, she was familiar with being constantly hungry. There was, after all, a reason her first stop after Afghanistan was for burgers. That was enough for Toni – moved by how she still had flashbacks of pain and hunger and dark, and her own need to be contrary – to kick her feet up on the table and open her mouth.

"So then, God of Thunder, what's with the mask on Rudolph here?"

That stopped the friendly conversations from all around her. Thor stared at her from around his brother while Clint tried to look both murderous and uninterested. Steve and Bruce started to silently clean up, and Natasha was doing that whole stoic Russian spy face that only she could pull off. Loki was glaring down at where Tony was sprawled next to him, but she could see that there was a spark of something hiding behind that.

"If you refer to the muzzle that has been placed on my brother, it is part of his punishment, in a way". Oh, interesting. Loki looked like he wanted to growl or protest at that, but he never took his eyes off of Toni. He was certainly twitching though.

"What do you mean 'in a way', Thor?" That was Steve speaking up. Thor had never really gone into the details of Loki's punishment at all, and Toni certainly couldn't be the only one who was curious. Especially goody-goody Steve, who would want to make sure justice was properly served.

But the Thunderer was just staring down at the table now, not making eye contact. That certainly had everyone's attention, as Thor looked so very uncomfortable.

"The muzzle is not a necessary part of Loki's punishment, but it is perhaps necessary to his recovery. The alternative of taking it off is entirely unpleasant, and I would not encourage it".

"Christ, Thor, then how is he supposed to eat! We can't just let the guy starve". Toni was sitting up sharply now, staring with something like horror at Thor, who wouldn't meet her gaze at all. "What the hell did your people do to him, because I'm pretty sure starvation counts as cruel and unusual punishment here".

No one else was speaking up. Steve and Bruce looked pained but they seemed torn. Clint just looked even more murderous than normal, and he may have even been muttering something about letting Loki starve. Natasha just watched on as silently and unread ably as ever.

Toni couldn't stand for it anymore. She wanted to know what that mask was for, what it was hiding. And she didn't want a god – no matter how deranged – to just starve while living in her house. It didn't sit right with her, and the way Loki was watching her just made the crazy itch worse. She felt like her skin didn't fit on her body anymore, but instead of scratching at it, she just sat up and leaned forward quickly.

Her hands wrapped around the back of Loki's head to where the clasp of the muzzle was, and her fingers deftly set about working it open. It only took a moment to understand how it was working, and if she spent that entire moment with her face only a foot away from Loki's, their eyes locked together, she wasn't going to acknowledge it. She couldn't read what his eyes were saying anyway, but maybe he looked a little reluctant.

Then the muzzle was falling away in her hands, and Toni fell back with it. Her eyes were wide with shock as she practically toppled out of her chair. It was actually Loki who caught her arm, but Toni was looking away now, choking on air as she tried not to gag. Most everyone else was looking away too, not wanting to see the stitches that held Loki's lips shut.

But as Loki helped her back into her chair, Toni turned back to him with a tired sigh. "I never could get the hang of Thursdays".


	2. Smoothies

The whole story came out after that. Basically it went along the lines that while the All-Daddy knew he had to dispense justice on his youngest son, his wife was having none of it. But still, in order to keep people from rising up with cries of favoritism, the big one-eyed man in the sky declared that Loki would be punished by having his two favorite weapons taken away – meaning his magic and his words. He could get them back of course, but his magic would only be returned if he proved worthy, and his mouth would only be freed when he could "speak the true language of the Nine Realms". Tony wasn't so sure what that meant exactly, but she didn't think he was going to be speaking for quite some time.

After-dinner bonding was cut short that night, as not many of them felt like sitting near Loki while he had those gruesome stitches in his face. Toni stayed though, crashing onto the couch with a grumpy sigh. Steve tried to talk to her about something, lightly patting her arm like she was a pouting child. She shrugged it off and turned to bury her face in the cushions.

She didn't like what had been done to Loki, and she couldn't understand how Odin could watch as the one he claimed affection for was hurt like that. The wire of the stitches was thick after all, and it really did leave Loki incapable of eating more than smoothies, which she very much doubted Asgard had. She hated to think that he had gone without food for seven whole fucking months. It made her grouchy.

Toni turned around, though, when she felt someone eyeing her back. It wasn't surprising at all that it would be Loki, just standing there like a total creeper. She growled at him, but that only seemed to amuse him further, and she really wasn't in the mood.

"What do you want, Dasher?" Loki just quirked an eyebrow, gesturing to his sewn shut mouth. Oh right, the bastard can't talk. But apparently Loki's body was willing to do the talking for him, as his stomach growled again, though this time it was loud enough to disturb the peace. Toni sighed and got up, waving for the Trickster to follow but not actually checking to make sure he did.

She went back to the kitchen, now cleaned and empty. Still scowling, the genius began to throw random fruits and ice cream into a blender on the counter. Loki stood next to her, looking amused and curious – a good look for him even if Toni really shouldn't be thinking that, thank you very much.

Trying to stop that train of thought before it went too far, Toni viciously pressed the blend button, drowning out everything in the grinding noise of a smoothie in progress. After a good few minutes, she poured it out and stuck an Iron Man crazy-straw in it, handing the glass to Loki. He stared at it for a good moment before pressing the straw to one of the small gaps in the stitches and drinking.

He seemed to be enjoying it, and Toni felt that she had fulfilled her good deed quota for the week, moving back to couch and curling up again. Loki apparently decided to join her, sitting at her feet, which left the genius feeling rather petulant, and she scowled at his smirking face.

"Seriously Michael Myers, what the hell do you want?" Loki started to do that stupid eyebrow quirk again, so Toni cut him off. "Don't give me any of that bullshit. Yeah, you can't talk but I'm sure you can still communicate perfectly well if you want, asshole".

A sound that may or may not have been chuckle came from Loki, and the corner of his lips started to curl up before he flinched. Stitches in the mouth seemed to make smiling a bit painful. It sort of made Tony wonder what he looked like when smiling a normal smile – not that crazy one from his attempted invasion.

But then Loki was picking up a tablet from the coffee table in front of them, turning it on with suspicious ease. It only took him a moment to open a document and begin to type. Tony sat up and leaned closer, giving in to her curiosity. Then Loki was tilting the screen to her so she could read it.

_You are remarkably tolerable for a mortal woman._

Toni snorted, lightly shoving the screen away from her before kicking her feet up on the coffee table. "You're not so bad yourself, Hannibal".


	3. Head-Butting Captain America

Things continued on in much the same way. Toni made Loki smoothies for meals; Loki talked to her through a tablet (though he would play mute when anyone else tried to speak with him, and Toni wasn't about to ruin the fun). Bad guys were still popping up pretty regularly, but there was nothing too crazy.

Over the next few weeks, Toni became mostly sure that maybe she might be spending just a bit too much time with Loki, but she couldn't fucking care less. The Trickster god was fun – when he wasn't being an annoying dick – and he showed an intense curiosity for Toni's inventions. Never one to turn down an opportunity to brag, the genius was very happy to explain and show off every single thing.

It was after one of these impromptu science lessons – where Toni was showing off the magic-dampening field she had perfected after Doom's latest attack – that Steve pulled Toni off to the side for a private chat. Of course, Steve seemed to somehow forget that just because Loki was mute and powerless, he still had super godlike hearing. Standing only around the corner from where the Trickster had been sitting, she was sure Loki could hear everything. She refrained from mentioning this to the blonde soldier.

"Toni, do you really think this is a good idea?" Steve had his lecturing face on, and Toni really wasn't in the mood so she feigned ignorance with a shrug.

"Well, I will admit that maybe I shouldn't be tampering with magic, but I'm sure that I have the field right now and that the generator won't explode like last time". That earned her a trademarked Captain America Sigh™.

"Look, Miss Stark" – oh god, it was Miss Stark; that meant not good things. "It really isn't appropriate for you to be demonstrating Avengers technologies to an enemy of this world".

Now that irked her for several reasons. It was her tech to do with whatever she wanted, and besides she actually sort of liked Loki. His intelligence was refreshing and he knew when to not annoy herm, unlike most of the team. Plus, he was fun to play around with and often gave her brilliant prank ideas.

"For Tesla's sake, Steve. The guy has been living with us for months now, and he hasn't done a single evil thing. Besides, isn't he reformed now or something? It can't hurt to show the bastard a little faith and respect. So if I want to show the EX-bad guy some of MY OWN tech, then I will do as I damn well please and you will back the fuck off". Toni moved to head back into her lab, but Steve grabbed her arm – and hey, that actually kind of hurt! Obviously Steve was pissed now, and he got significantly louder as he spoke harshly to her.

"This isn't a game, Stark. I think you've gotten a bit too close to this to see just how much you are putting us all at risk! I think you need to get away from Loki for a while".

"Are you saying I'm _compromised_, Rogers?"

"I'm saying you need to step back from this". Toni tried to jerk away, but Steve was having none of it, instead using his larger bulk to crowd her against the wall. "I knew you were self-centered, Stark, but I never thought you would risk the entire world just for a good lay!"

Toni froze, even her breath catching. She was so far beyond pissed. That was so disgusting – that he would accuse her of letting people die just for sex. And she wasn't even having sex with Loki! Not that she was entirely opposed to the idea, but she hadn't and she didn't plan on it, but that didn't seem to matter to Steve at all. So Toni – completely fueled by rage and the instinctive need to escape from threats, to get away from Steve – reared her head back and then slammed it into his face.

In hindsight, it was an absolutely terrible idea.

Steve was, after all, a super soldier whose head was hard as fucking marble. And she was using her own skull as a weapon, leaving her stunned. It did, however, make Steve stumble back, hands clenched to his face. Maybe Toni's attempt was entirely in vain; it seemed to be rather successful from the amount of blood pouring through Steve's fingers.

But Toni's head was now pounding and she couldn't quite see straight and there were spots in her eyes. So she fell back into the wall, sliding down it to slump in a heap there. It was entirely unpleasant how she was just kind of sprawled there, and movement hurt. Hell, _thinking_ hurt.

Steve was talking, rambling on about something or other about how she was crazy or stupid or whatever. Toni couldn't find it in herself to care, she just wanted him to go away so she could sleep this off.

Then there were hands on her, touching her and lifting her. She blinked up, trying hard to focus on what could really only be Loki's face. He was frowning at her, maybe in disapproval for doing something as stupid as head-butting Captain America. That was when she realized that he was holding her tightly to his chest. Toni tried to push away, but Loki was having none of that shit, and just picked her up. That wasn't cool, but Tony was too tired to really protest. She settled for squirming and whining a bit.

The ride up from the labs to her bedroom wasn't long, but it took enough time for her to begin to fall asleep. She did rouse partially when Loki laid her out on the bed, and she tried to say something, though god only knew if it was a protest or a thanks. Loki stopped her anyway, pressing a long, cool finger to her lips like he was shushing her. Halfway out of it still, it seemed like a great idea for Toni to be difficult by wrapping her lips around that finger and sucking on it, using her tongue in a very lewd way.

Loki's breath stuttered, and he it took him a long moment to draw his hand away, then again to stand and leave the room. Toni resolved to look into that reaction more later, when her head wasn't pounding.


	4. Worth It

Toni woke up later in the day to Bruce sitting in her bedroom with some chemistry journal. When she shifted to sit up, he looked over, moving to help her upright. Her head was still pounding despite sleeping, so she managed a mumbled thank you when Bruce handed over some pills and a glass of water. He waited until she was finished before speaking up that little smirk of his.

"So, I heard you head-butted Steve".

"Yes".

"Worth it?"

"Yes".

"Why?"

"Steve was being a dick".

"So you head-butted him".

"It worked".

Bruce sighed, but he was definitely amused. "Yeah, I heard he was being pretty pushy. And those bruises on your arm confirm that".

Toni looked down, and yeah, there were some nasty finger-shaped bruises along her upper arms. She poked at one, biting back a hiss as it hurt. Bruce shook his head before speaking again.

"I also heard Loki rescued you". Toni scoffed, because no thank you, he didn't _rescue_ her. She was perfectly fine where she was on the floor.

"More like he cleaned up my mess".

"Ah yes, I forgot. Toni Stark is no damsel in distress".

"You bet your pretty little brain I'm not".

Bruce just stood up with a laugh, and Toni was suddenly really happy that she had met Bruce. The man was positively adorable when he laughed, I she loved his intelligence. He was a super-awesome friend, but that was probably just the painkillers kicking in.

Bruce left then, leaving Toni alone to clean up and probably eat. But now that she had time to think, she didn't really want to be normal. She was still pissed at Steve, and then there was Loki and everything they had been accused of. And his reaction to her delirious teasing. It called for some scotch fueled introspection, which was really the only kind of introspection Toni Stark ever did.

This was also a rather terrible decision on her part – one which lead to many more that night – but scotch, painkillers, and head injuries never did make for wise decisions.

Because once Toni had a little liquid courage rolling through her body, she became determined to confront Loki. She wasn't sure what his plan was – or even if he had one – but Toni needed to know, needed to talk to him about it. She managed to get JARVIS to reveal Loki's location to her, though he did so unwillingly. The Trickster was in his bedroom, and so Toni set off to join him.

It took her a little bit, mainly because she had JARVIS plot out a path so she could avoid everyone else in the tower. Also, because she was stumbling drunk. But finally she was at Loki's door, and maybe she should knock but she was Toni Stark and this was her tower, so she didn't.

Loki was asleep, that much was obvious from the start. The lights were off, and miraculously, she didn't startle the god awake when she stumbled in. It was odd to see Loki like this; it made him seem vulnerable. And vulnerable was unusual for the trickster, who was guarded even around her – maybe _especially_ around her.

Einstein's balls, Loki was cute like that though, and Toni really didn't have it in her to wake him. So that left waiting, and suddenly, Toni was very tired. It was probably the alcohol and the meds and all of the day's events just hitting her right then, but Toni wasn't sure if she would actually make it back to her room, and she really didn't want to play run around with the tower's other occupants. And hey look – there was a perfectly suitable bed right in front of her. If it had someone in it already, that hardly mattered; Toni was used to sharing a bed with attractive people, after all.

So Tony quietly crawled into the bed with Loki, planning on keeping a careful distance in the rather large bed, but Loki was sprawled out over practically the entire thing with those freakishly long limbs of his, and damn did his chest look like a good pillow.

And it was.


	5. And Then They Had Sex

The next morning, Toni woke up to something soft and smooth and slightly cool under her cheek. It was nice, and smelled vaguely of evergreen, apples, and cinnamon. She snuggled closer, and then pressed her face into it, taking a deep breath. Then the thing moved.

And by moved, I really mean thrashed.

Toni was promptly shoved away from her cozy little spot, blink grouchily up at the squirming pile of flesh that was next to her. She growled, peeved about being so displaced when she was so damn comfortable, and grabbed onto her cuddle buddy, pulling them back close with impatience.

The body pressed to her was suddenly still and achingly tense, decidedly not as comfortable as it had been before. So she kissed gently along the skin, humming out something that sounded like 'relax', and that surprisingly worked, leaving Toni to contentedly curl up again.

That didn't last long, as someone shoved at her shoulder, trying – more gently this time – to push her away. Toni retaliated by nipping at the skin under her cheek. She sat up sharply, though, when that earned her a smothered – and very familiar – noise.

Loki was lying there, deliciously shirtless, and looking pointedly away from her. That sent flashes of last night's drunken trek up to her conscious brain, but Toni couldn't really find it in herself to care. Loki was spread out before her, and he was hot, and he smelt good, and he was crazy smart, and she was bad at saying no to temptation. If she was more than just a little attached to him too, that didn't hurt anything.

"Oh". That was really the only thing Toni could say as her brain processed everything, and it was enough to get Loki's attention. He turned his head, glaring sharply at her. The effect was rather ruined by the spread of black hair curling around his face, sharply contrasting against both the white sheets and Loki's own skin. His eyes were bright green amongst all that too, and it was a stunningly gorgeous picture.

So Toni leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to the harsh stitches in Loki's lips. They pricked sharply at her lips. Loki tried to move back away, but the genius followed, pressing in more until she was draped across Loki's chest and he had nowhere left to go. Toni cradled his head in her hands, continuing to lightly kiss along Loki's face and jaw as she tangled her fingers in his hair. Loki's only response was too close his eyes, a deep shuttering breath that lifted Toni's smaller body on his chest.

When Toni finally pulled slightly back, Loki watched her though half-lidded eyes. Neither of them moved for a long moment.

Then Loki flipped them, and they proceeded to have the wildest, hottest, craziest, and most certainly the best sex Toni had had in her life.


	6. Compromised

In the afterglow of their awesome sex, Toni lay happily snuggled under Loki's arm. She had been tracing equations on his chest earlier, but now her hand lay trapped under Loki's. She ignored how stupidly giddy she had felt when he had intertwined their fingers. She didn't care, perfectly happy to ignore the little voice in the back of her head – the one that sounded suspiciously like Steve – that was screaming COMPROMISED.

Really, Loki wasn't even a bad guy anymore. He was being rehabilitated after all.

But currently, Loki was tilting her chin up to press a stilted kiss to her forehead, then nose, then her lips. Toni hummed her pleasure, smiling when Loki's eyes lit up. This was nice, though in a different way from the sex. This was comfortable and lazy and something she could really get used to.

It was well after noon, though, and JARVIS was already paging Toni for some meeting or other that she didn't want to have. Toni was rumbling as Loki forced her up with a soundless chuckle. She, being a tease, made sure to walk across the room entirely naked before putting on one of Loki's shirts. Maybe not the best idea, as it would practically be advertising their little tryst, but Toni wasn't one for making good decisions anyway.

It was worth it just for the way Loki's eyes tracked her. Toni slipped out the door then with a wink, dressed only in Loki's too large t-shirt and her own shorts. JARVIS directed her down to one of the common rooms, where the rest of the Avengers were gathered for an impromptu meeting, called in by everyone's favorite super soldier. It probably had something to do with their fight yesterday, but Toni was already over it. Yeah, Steve had been kind of an asshole about the whole thing, but it was hardly their first fight; she couldn't even really blame him for being concerned.

So Toni swaggered in, not really caring how everyone's eyes widened when they saw her clothing and guessed correctly what it meant. Steve looked super pissed, but he was the only one. Actually, Natasha looked rather smug as she collected money from Clint, Thor and Bruce. Thor shot her a bright grin though, laughing as he spoke.

"Friend Toni, if only you and my brother had gotten together sooner, we would all not be in the debt of Lady Tasha". Toni just laughed, a little irked that they were betting on her and Loki hooking up, but too high off the afterglow to care. Steve's face, though, was priceless. He looked like he was going to explode from suppressed feelings of impropriety.

"I told you they would need a trigger". That was Tasha, smirking up at Toni with a nod. Sprawling across one of the empty chairs, Toni still couldn't be bothered to care – at least, she couldn't until Steve had to kill everyone's fun.

Fun-sucker.

"You all think this is a joke! Stark's compromised! We never should have let Loki even stay here. He needs to be locked up!" That wiped the smile off everyone's faces. But before Toni could even speak, Thor was, standing up and looking every inch the Prince they had all forgotten he was.

"You will not lock up my brother, Steven Rogers. You agreed to let him stay here when we first arrived, and Loki has served his punishment anyway". Shit, Thor was scary when he got like this, but Steve didn't look like he was going to back down anytime soon.

"That was before Stark decided to share her technology and her bed with him!"

"Toni is free to share as she likes, as Loki wishes no harm upon this realm any longer".

"There are lines, Thor, which we don't cross. And that includes having sex with villains – reformed or otherwise".

"I see not how it is any concern of yours who sleeps with who as long as both are willing".

"We are a team, and people depend on us. That makes it my business, because what happens the next time Stark can't control herself and drags some other man to her bed. Maybe next time, it'll be Doom – or Red Skull – or Zemo! That kind of behavior can't-"

Steve never finished that though because Loki had appeared and decided to throw the blonde across the room. Everyone tensed for a moment, but Loki turned then, heading straight to Toni's side and wiping at her cheeks. That was when she realized that a few tears had escaped – not because she was insulted or hurt, but she was just so damn angry. Couldn't Steve just give it a fucking break?

Toni was tired of his shit, of his self-righteousness and holier-than-though attitude. It made her want to just get drunk and break things and pull everything apart. Her hands were twitching with the desire to just destroy.

But then Loki was holding tightly to both her hands, clenching them tightly to his chest as he hummed something soothing. Behind him, Toni could see that Steve was trying to get at the trickster, but Thor and Clint had stepped in instead. Tasha was watching everything impassively as Bruce fled the room. She would have been hurt by that, but he was looking a little green – with a jolt she realized that everyone was just as pissed off as she was at the super soldier. Huh, interesting.

Toni let her new lover lead her out of the room, pulling her up to her bedroom and locking the door once there. The genius just collapsed into her bed, so tired of all this bullshit and completely wiped out by how fast she had gone from a wonderful morning to this hell. Loki sat next to her, and Toni gave into the temptation for comfort, using his lap as a pillow. She fell asleep to Loki petting her hair and doing that humming thing again.


	7. No One Said Anything About Love

**Sorry it has taken so long, dearies. But this is a massive chapter full of all sorts of things, and it kind of fought me the entire time. Hopefully the rest of the story won't take as long - especially since there are already two sequels in the works (^w^)**

* * *

When Toni woke up again, JARVIS informed her that Loki was gone, Steve had already moved out of the Tower and the Avengers had been officially disbanded. Toni got very drunk and went back to sleep.

She finally pulled herself together a few days later when Bruce forced her out of her bedroom. It was then that she got the fully story of everything that had gone down, though it didn't make her feel better at all.

After the confrontation with Steve, it seemed the super soldier had felt it necessary to call in SHIELD. The agents had swarmed the Tower, treating both Loki and Toni as hostile targets. They had all been prepped to fight, but Loki had intervened instead. He went peacefully with the SHIELD agents on the condition that Toni be left alone, and the agents had agreed.

When Loki was taken away, Thor had obviously not been happy, and with Toni having her Avengers status revoked too, the Thunder god had quit the team. Bruce wasn't far behind in joining him. As SHIELD agents, Natasha and Clint couldn't do the same, but with the Avengers down three members, the Initiative was quickly dissolved. Natasha and Clint both left with the SHIELD agents, promising to watch after Loki and keep him from the worst of SHIELD's methods.

After SHIELD had finally got that sorted out, Bruce stepped in to deal with Steve. Because there was no longer an Avengers team, there was also no longer an Avengers Tower. Steve, because of his actions against Toni, was not welcome on what was once again Stark Industries property and needed to leave. Apparently, Steve hadn't really argued, just leaving instead. Good, one less problem to fuck with in Toni's opinion.

That just left her, Bruce, and Thor alone in the Tower, and after forcing some food into Toni, none of them really knew what to do or how to fix things. But Toni and Thor were both ill-suited for sitting about idly, so Toni got JARVIS started on hacking into SHIELD for location on Loki. Thor busied himself down in the gym. Bruce just discreetly poured all Toni's alcohol down the drain.

Just as Toni was starting to find her hands empty and in need of being filled by some courage juice, Thor decided to interrupt her. He sat down at one of the empty stools in her lab, turned slightly away. Toni didn't speak – she wasn't really angry with him at all, but her frustrations were such that she wasn't going to make his life any easier. Thor finally decided to man up with a sigh, though he sounded really tired when he did.

"Do you love my brother, friend Toni?"

That might have set off her defensive nature, leaving her spewing out whatever excuses came to mind, but Toni was just too damn tired. "Hawking's wheelchair, I don't know. Can't say I have lots of experience in falling in love, so maybe?"

Thor made a disgruntled noise, so Toni continued after sighing into her hands. "Look Thor, love or not – Loki is amazing. He's attractive and wickedly fun and he is the most intelligent conversation partner I have ever had, even if he can't talk. I like spending time with him, and I would like to think he enjoys it too".

"I think perhaps you are what he needs – love or not".

"Well, a whole lot of good I've done so far". Tony snorted self-depreciatively, and Thor just shot her a look that really made her doubt that Loki was adopted because damn – the Thunderer had his brother's you-are-being-ridiculous look down solidly.

"Toni, you have provided my brother with a reason to be redeemed. He was here before because he was forced into it, but now I think there is a true desire in him to succeed. I think that is what you have done for him".

"Yeah, well SHIELD is doing a pretty awesome fucking job of shitting on that".

"It is unfortunate that they have reacted so badly to this".

Toni paused, suddenly suspicious and turning to glare at the blonde. "Thor, did you ever get permission to bring Loki here, or did you just show up?"

Thor did his little sheepish laugh thing that he used whenever he ate all the food or broke something important. "I did speak with the Director about living here, but I may have forgotten to mention that I would not be alone".

Toni blinked, then laughed, then paused again. "How the fuck did Fury never find out before this then? I mean – yeah, I've locked him out of all the Tower's systems, but then there is Clint and Natasha, and Steve is his little lapdog too".

"I convinced Lady Natasha that SHIELD need not be informed unless things became dangerous, and she agreed. She even helped to keep Steve and Clint from making mention of this".

"Natasha probably thought this would be fun, at least whatever passes for fun in her crazy Russian head".

Thor just shrugged, poking at some of the projects Toni had left scattered about. The genius just ignored that for a while, watching as JARVIS continued on hacking into all the deep and dark corners of SHIELD's servers. It was troubling how long it was taking for her AI to find anything, as SHIELD didn't normally bury things so well. But that was pushed out of her mind as something else occurred to her.

"Thor?"

There was only a grunt from the blonde, so Toni threw a wrench at his head. That got Thor to look up, even if he was scowling a bit. "Yes Toni?"

"What kind of bull shit is 'the true language of the Nine Realms' supposed to be?"

Thor was smirking at her now, so Toni threw another tool, but he caught it with a laugh. "Come now, my friend. Surely you must know the one thing that all races in the universe have in common!"

Toni stared blankly at the god. "Stomachs? A sex drive?"

"Try again. This is far more important".

"More important than sex?"

"Try love, Toni".

"… Are you fucking kidding me?" Thor looked confused at that – but really? Love – oh god, that had to be the stupidest and most ridiculous thing Toni had ever heard. It was like something out of a Disney movie. The poor broken prince could only be free again once he learned true love. Shit, did that make Toni the knight in shining red and gold armor? She hoped so because fuck everyone if they tried to make her into a Disney princess. Back on track, though – this entire ordeal was just too trite for words. "How do you even expect this to work, Thor? You can't just make your brother fall in love – and really, the poor guy doesn't deserve to live off smoothies for all his immortal life".

Thor was smirking at her, oh that couldn't be good. "Not at all, friend. It is already taken care of. My brother is free to speak already".

"Wha"

Toni's brain crashed and took a long minute to reboot before she could formulate thoughts again. And then her mouth was off.

"Wait, since when could that asshole speak? And who the hell did he fall for? And why did no one mention this? Did he get his magic back too? What the fuck is even going on anymore?"

Thor was laughing again, that bulky and adorable shit head. The fucker knew something important and Toni was going to get it out of him even if she had to invent brand new and very creative torture methods. Really, she just wanted to know who the Trickster was head over heels for, because they were a poor little unlucky bastard – with how Toni was going to ruin their lives and everything. Not because she was jealous, not at all – just because they were taking away her favorite fuck buddy. Yeah, Toni Stark wasn't jealous, she didn't do jealous. Not even for Loki.

"Toni, he regained his silvertongue after he interrupted that meeting and took you to bed. When he came back to meet with SHIELD's men, he was smiling and speaking as he always used to".

Toni's brain shut off again as she tried to process that, but luckily she had JARVIS, who was pulling up the video footage for her to watch. She silently let it play out.

There was her bedroom, empty for a second before Loki was kicking the door open, a stumbling Toni being pulled in after. Then she was collapsing across the bed, head in Loki's lap just as she remembered. And he was staring at her like – well, like she had never really seen before, at least not towards herself. It was kind of like how she must have looked when DUM-E first sprung to life under her hands – how there was something magnificent and beautiful and entirely unique right there before her, and she could never let that go. That was how Loki looked, and Toni almost wanted to look away, it was too much.

Then Loki was moving her so that they could both lie sprawled across the bed, video-Toni unconsciously wrapping her arms around Loki. His lips twitched up in that pained smile he was forced to use, and then he pressed his stitched lips to video-Toni's forehead in a long kiss. When he pulled away though, he was frowning slightly, and it looked like he was trying to talk despite the stitches. His efforts became even sharper, mouth moving so much that the stitches were starting to tear his skin, blood beading on his skin. It looked painful, and Loki's eyes reflected that, but he didn't stop until two mangled words forced themselves through bloody lips.

The audio picked up 'love you', and then the stitches were quickly vanished in a hot flash of light. When Toni managed to blink away the spots in her vision, she saw that Loki's lips and mouth were free and unmarked again, and he was making good use of them, leaving kisses on video-Toni's sleeping face and just whispering 'love you' over and over and over again.

Toni didn't know how to react to that. If Bruce hadn't stolen her alcohol, maybe it would have been time for some more of Toni Stark's drunken introspection. But she was not going to think on her feelings for Loki while sober. It was not going to happen, because dammit, she might have been a little too attached before, but fuck was she in way over head on this one.

Thor was rather smart enough to keep his thoughts on the video to himself. He hadn't known quite how everything had played out, just that Loki had fallen in love, and that it was most likely Toni he had fallen for. It was both amazingly sweet and tragically painful how their relationship developed though, and Thor was a strange mixture of joyous and melancholy about it. But after near ten minutes of absolute silence from Toni, he was maybe a little worried about how this affected her.

Then JARVIS was saying that SHIELD had absolutely no records on Loki's return at all, let alone his capture a few days earlier, and that snapped both of them to attention. Toni knew that there was something wrong immediately, as not even the most covert of SHIELD's operations ever went completely undocumented. Encrypted, coded, and hidden yes, but never just missing. So she sent JARVIS off searching every camera from the Tower outward to track the movements of the men that had taken Loki away. Thor hovered over her shoulder as they watched the search play out.

What it showed was not encouraging, and what it meant was absolutely terrifying for them both.


	8. Searching for Something

It took several minutes too long to sort through the video footage of Loki's departure from the Tower, followed by Natasha and Clint. When they did find what they were looking for, it made Toni feel icy all over and throughout, and from Thor's face, he was feeling much the same.

Because those weren't really SHIELD agents that had come in, they were imposters – really fucking good ones too, if they could convince JARVIS and Tasha. It was impossible to tell just who exactly those assholes were, but they couldn't be SHIELD's men, not with how they just teleported a very shocked looking Loki away after using their sheer numbers to subdue the two Avengers present.

It was easy to figure out from there that the whole 'disbanding the Avengers' thing had just been a way to separate them all and keep them from looking for the missing team members. Which really meant their best course of action was to get the band back together, even calling in Steve again. That would certainly be unpleasant, but while he wouldn't want to just help Loki, he would go along to get Clint and Tasha back.

So Thor set out to fetch Steve while Toni went up to speak with Bruce. The scientist took one look at the panic on her face before forcing the tea he had just made into her hands, sitting her down and getting an explanation from JARVIS. He wouldn't allow Toni to speak until she drank the entire – very disgusting – cup of chamomile tea. Then her mouth took off and there was little to stop it.

"God Bruce, I can't believe I never thought to check. I mean, I should have known that Natasha or Clint would have checked in by now, or let us know something was going on. But they are missing – oh shit, they got Tasha, Bruce! No one gets Tasha! I should have realized…"

Bruce sighed, a hand settled on his friend's slight shoulder. "Toni, you weren't exactly in top form. Hey, even I didn't think about this happening. I just thought that SHIELD must be keeping them busy or something".

Toni looked up at her friend, and she was so scarily close to crying now, but she wasn't yet. "But this is my fault. I mean, I'm not sorry about the thing with Loki – not at all. But even though I knew it would bother Steve, I rubbed it in his face. I picked a fight on purpose and now that started this whole mess. I should have been kinder about it – or gentler or something. Then this wouldn't have happened at all".

"It's not your fault, Toni. It was mine". And there was Steve, standing in the doorway with a worried Thor behind him. The soldier moved into the kitchen, standing across from Toni. "I overreacted about the whole thing. I knew that Loki wasn't a villain anymore, but I snapped. I guess that I was just worried about him taking advantage of you, but instead of being reasonable, I blew up at you. For that, I'm very sorry".

Toni blinked up at the blonde, not speaking for a moment. Then she just nodded, handing the empty mug to Bruce before standing. She turned to the few remaining teammates she had, and then grabbed a tablet sitting nearby. "Let's find them".

It took too long to make any more progress. It was only after several hours of scrubbing through video footage that they managed to get a face match on one of the imposters. The man was suspected of being a Hydra agent, but there was no name or other information but a face and a hunch. Bruce pointed out that this didn't quite make sense; Hydra didn't have magic users capable of teleporting like that.

But luckily – after liberal SHIELD hacking – they managed to grab a scan from that area showing a spike in a familiar energy signature. It was Doom, though that was odd because it meant he was working with Hydra and he had never done something so large scale with his magic as teleporting that many people.

Besides, what the hell did they want with Loki? That was a question no one could really answer, so they ignored it and started scouring all of Hydra and Doom's known hideouts for anything that could give them a clue. There was no luck with that, though, so Steve and Thor set about dragging up some kind of food while Toni and Bruce started sweeping the planet, searching for any spikes in Doom's energy signature. That should tell them where to look next.

Eventually the two left the lab, JARVIS monitoring things for them. The four of them ate some mac'n'cheese in tense silence. Steve and Bruce both looked exhausted, and Thor looked worried. But Toni was haunted. She had just finally hooked up with Loki, and then there was that video of his painful confession. With everything going on, though, she hadn't really come to terms with that yet. Love was not something Toni Stark was familiar with – as she had told Thor – but if it was Loki, she wasn't really opposed. At the very least, she wanted Loki back; she wanted him back at her side like he belonged there.

If that was love – and it very well could be – then Toni was in it bad. But first, there was some overconfident super villains to take care of first.

When the meal was done, Toni headed straight back. The rest stayed behind to clean up the kitchen and probably talk about her, but it wasn't important. Bruce eventually joined her – it was actually the next morning but Toni didn't notice, she just kept working until she passed out then woke up and went straight back to it.

Then they found it. The spike of energy led to a small complex of buildings hidden in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska. Satellite views showed little movement, but that was the only pause Toni took before hustling her three teammates onto the Quinjet. Luckily, everything was already prepped and ready to go thanks to Steve. With the Captain suited up and piloting, everyone else sat tensely in the back.

It was a fifteen hour flight, though, and Bruce practically forced Toni to lie across the seats and try to sleep. The position wasn't comfortable and the genius was a big ball of tension, but she hadn't really slept in the past five days and was quickly out. They woke her back up upon entering Alaskan airspace.

Toni suited up then. She had her newest suit there, one that self-assembled around her. And then there was Iron Man standing there – and yes, it was Iron Man because putting boobs on her suit just to show that she was a woman was stupid, they served no purpose and would just get in the way. Leaving the face mask off, she turned back to everyone else. Bruce was in his standard expanding pants and Thor was in full battle armor. They only had a wait of another hour before they arrived, and now it was time to plan.

What they finally came up with was less than ideal, but they had no way of knowing how many men were in the buildings, or how much of the base was hidden underground. They couldn't even be sure which building Loki, Natasha, and Clint were in – or even if they were being held together. So they worked out using the Hulk as a distraction, letting him loose to wreak as much havoc as possible while Steve and Toni worked through one of the larger buildings together, and Thor searched another on his own. This left a significant risk to their captured teammates, but none of them were capable of sneaking around stealthily to find them.

So an hour later, they made a quick shot over the base where Bruce jumped decisively from the Quinjet, transforming as he fell. The attack began.

* * *

**Short Xmas update for everyone who celebrates it.**

**For those who don't - Happy chapter update!**


	9. Fighting and Fuck It All

It was a giant, bloody free for all of Doombots and gunfire and smashing. The Hulk was tearing through a small army of men while Thor tore through buildings. Steve and Toni were significantly slower, but that was more because they weren't just throwing themselves through walls. They were coming up empty handed, though, and there didn't seem to be much in the way of secret underground tunnels either. Toni tried to interrogate one of the men, but they axed themselves in typical Hydra fashion with that bullshit about heads.

She took the next guy out with a repulser blast to the balls. Steve cringed at that, but was smart enough not to say anything. They just kept plugging away, kicking ass and finding nothing useful. Neither Doom nor any Hydra higher-ups were present, and Toni was becoming far more reckless as the search kept fruitless. But then Thor's voice was blasting out on the comms, stating his find of a pissed off Tasha and a semiconscious Clint. While Tasha apparently extracted sweet revenge on anything near her, Thor explained that they knew nothing of Loki's location or what he was taken for.

Toni blasted out of the building with gritted teeth, tired of coming up empty. There was still one last building left completely uninvestigated, and Toni wasn't patient enough to wait for Steve to catch up, just plowing in gun's blazing. She didn't need to, though, because the building was just one large room, and it was entirely empty. She had JARVIS run a quick scan, looking for hidden entrances, trap doors, or anything at all. He came up empty.

She wasn't falling apart yet, though. There was still hope that one of her teammates would turn up something in their searches, that maybe Loki had escaped in the chaos and was hiding in a broom closet or something. Then Thor was calling out an all clear in his area, and Steve quickly followed with a clear of his own. Toni could hear Tasha and Clint speaking in the background, but they hadn't found a sign of the trickster either.

So Toni shut down her comms, ripped off her helmet, and screamed her frustrations to the empty room.

* * *

They didn't want to leave her alone, she knew. Her team was worried about her, and with very good reason. But Tasha and Clint needed to be checked out, which required Bruce and the medical floor of the Tower. Steve was a definite no, as he kept giving her these piteous looks which only made her want to claw at his face. That little Steve voice in her head that continued to scream COMPROMISED was also just pissing her off, and it was louder when the actual blonde was near her, so he was quickly sent away. That left her and Thor at the mountain base. The rest of the team took off in the Quinjet to clean up back at home.

It probably wasn't the wisest thing, though, to leave the two most likely to be affected by Loki's continued absence alone, but it was the only choice the rest of the team was given. It suited Thor just fine to stay by his friend's side, as they could continue to search to their own satisfaction. Which meant that they went systematically through each and every building, tearing them all down to their foundations, as Toni wasn't just content with her scans to believe that there was nothing underground. She wanted to damn well see for herself that they had reached a dead end, and even then she might just continue to shoot the hell out of everything just because.

But there was something, though, that they did find. Loki's clothes, the simple button-up and black slacks that they all had last seen him in, were folded neatly on a bench in what appeared to be a holding cell. Not that it mattered at all what he was wearing, because with Doom's magic, it was a fucking global search anyway. Thor pretended not to notice, though, when Toni picked up the shirt and stared at it for a long moment. Then it was quickly sealed in one of the suit's compartments. Toni would scan it later to try and find some kind of trace evidence that they could use.

Soon enough – far too soon – the base was entirely decimated and nothing else could be gleaned from the ashes. Toni, too tired to continue on much farther after everything, led Thor into the nearest town, paying for a hotel room. She didn't say a word when their room only had one bed, just disassembled her suit and clambered in next to an exhausted Thunder god. In the few minutes before falling asleep, though, she couldn't help but think that this wasn't the god she wanted to be sleeping next to.

* * *

A few weeks later found all the team living in the Tower again. It lacked the same communal feel as before, though, with conversations always feeling forced and most everyone sticking to their own personal space. Steve continued to make dinner, but most of the time Toni never bothered to show. None of the team blamed her for that, and they left her alone for the most part. She had locked them all out of the lab anyway, and that was where she spent almost every moment.

The thing was, though, that while the genius was living in her lab, she wasn't working. Oh, she had driven herself to the edge of madness for that first week or so, searching with a frenzied rage pushing her hard. But she had exhausted every route and possibility in that time, pushing even JARVIS's extensive power to the limit with countless scans, equations, and scenarios.

But now, with nothing left to do, she was just sitting idle. It wasn't a normal stillness that filled her lab, though. It was a grudging hopelessness that stilled Toni's movements, that drove her to staring blankly at a wall, wearing the shirt that they had found of Loki's and playing with one of the gauntlets of her suit. Sometimes she just randomly shot at half-finished projects on the tables, but that was done almost unconsciously on her part. She was lost in her own mind.

Bruce was the first to finally check on her. With all the alcohol having been disposed of earlier, he thought it rather safe to leave the engineer to her own devices, but when JARVIS alerted him that Toni had neither eaten or slept in nearly 50 hours, he made his was quickly down to the lab. JARVIS let him in without a word, and Bruce stepped into what he almost thought was an empty room.

What first caught him was the lack of blasting music. There was music playing, but it was hardly Toni's favorite classic rock albums. That music was loud and driving, but almost pure in its glorifying of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The speakers weren't piping out that, though; this was heavy and dark and hauntingly melodic. It was giving him chills in a way that was not entirely pleasant.

Then he noticed Toni, lying across one of the benches and still dressed in Loki's shirt and her own shorts. Her gaze was blank, and she looked both scarily pale and still. She didn't look like she had moved in the few days since they had last seen her. And when Bruce called out for JARVIS to kill the music, Toni didn't react at all except to maybe blink, but that could have been entirely just the coincidence of timing. Bruce was determined, then, that this would stop immediately. So he slipped an arm around Toni's waist and heaved her off the bench.

He wasn't large enough to just carry the genius, but Toni really was tiny, so he half-dragged her up the stairs. Toni didn't put up any fight at all, which was worrying in a very new way, because she hated to be treated as weaker or fragile or small in anyway, picking a fight over anything that might imply such. He got her to the common room, though, just as Tasha and Clint arrived, and the archer was at Toni's other side in a second. They both managed to sprawl the unresponsive woman across the couch.

Then JARVIS must have called up the rest of the Avengers because Thor and Steve were both rushing in. The whole team was left staring down at their resident genius, but she was still just staring and blank, the gauntlet hanging off her arm. Even when Clint flicked a rubber band at her, there was nothing.

Natasha, being far more insightful and clever than the well-meaning meatheads she worked with – and Bruce – had a temporary solution to try out. She picked up one of the many tablets that were always lying around the Tower, and quickly sorting through files that should not have been so easily accessible, she found what she wanted. Notching the volume up all the way, the boys all watched her in various stages confusion as Loki's voice came from the tablet, playing 'love you' on repeat.

And there was the reaction, Toni sitting up straight immediately, looking around for the sound of the voice. The subtle hints of hope in her face faded, though, when it clicked that this was just a recording. But it was enough to snap Toni out of her shit, leaving her staring at everyone standing around.

"Who's party is this and why was I not invited?"

A round of relieved chuckles broke out amongst everyone, then Thor was vaulting the couch to bounce down next to Toni – who very nearly flew off the couch – and throw an arm around her shoulders. "We were worried for you, Lady Toni. Your silence had us nervous".

Toni glared suspiciously at the god. "I feel like you're trying to tell me something, Prince Charming".

Clint decided to join in, perching on the armrest on the other side of the flat-chested genius. "Yeah, we were all freaked out when we didn't hear our favorite motor-mouth running".

"Awww, Clint, if I had known you missed my voice so much, I would have made sure that JARVIS played it in your room. Constantly".

Then everyone was laughing as the banter became comfortable again, though Thor seemed to be trying to assure himself of Toni's health by practically cuddling her. They were all fighting to feel normal, though, and so Bruce quietly suggested watching a movie, which led to the usual bickering over films. It was nice, once they finally decided on something stupidly violent – which was entirely for Toni's sake, it being her favorite genre, but no one mentioned that aloud. Toni, though, was reluctant to leave her place on the couch, so the seating ended up a little skewed. The genius was very nearly sitting in Thor's lap, legs sprawled across Bruce. Clint kept his perch, with Natasha and Steve both taking the chairs to the side.

It was nice and comfortable in a way that Toni hadn't felt in some time, and maybe she felt close to normal enough to sleep tonight. She could take a second – or hundredth – shot at finding her missing lover tomorrow.


	10. Ewwww, Coconuts

Of course, the peace could never last. In fact, they didn't even get to finish the movie before shit got crazy in the Avengers Tower. It was just nearing the climax, with people dying all over the place and explosions and everything that made action films wonderful, in Toni's opinion, and holy fuck did she really love this part of the film. That was, of course, when Doctor Doom himself decided fucking pop out of nowhere right in front of all of them.

They were all pretty much struck silent – except Tasha, who somehow reacted fast enough to already be crouched behind the chair and fully armed. Toni's first though was something along the lines of 'gotta fix that, no more teleporting allowed', but then she quickly jumped to 'Doom is in my fucking house' then on to Loki. Because Loki was there, head bowed and kneeling just behind Doom's feet.

And oh, that was so wrong. Loki didn't kneel, he hardly would acknowledge most people's existence, let alone fall to his knees before them. Toni was going to do bad, bad things to Doom for that, because Loki should kneel for no one, and he never would if she had a say in it. And god, his clothes had been replaced with some kind of horrid rags that were just disgusting. Not at all the stylish cuts that hugged his frame just right, though it was hardly the time to be playing fashion police. But then why wasn't anyone attacking, because here was Doom and shouldn't they all be fighting.

That's when the genius noticed the dark and foreboding collar around her lover's neck. It was connected to a leash that was clenched in Doom's metal fist. If the super villain had been on Toni's shit list before, he was topping it now. She and Loki hadn't been together long enough to get into the whips and chains part of sexual fun, so it was kind of a dick move on Doom's part to jump right in like that. The asshole, now Loki was going to be hesitant to play along with her when she went on one of her dominatrix streaks. But focus, Toni, because important shit was going down. The leash, though, did make her pause, because while Loki might be magic-less, he was never helpless, so if he was down, then it was for very good reason.

Then Doom was speaking, and Toni realized she should probably pay attention. Her eyes never strayed long from Loki, though she couldn't see his face behind a curtain of hair.

"What a lovely home you all share, my Avengers. I can see now why this supposed god has spent so much time here". There was a growl from Thor, who was clinging to Toni like she was a lifeline, but a jerk to Loki's leash had them all quiet again, especially when the Trickster visibly flinched. "I must confess to have been quite surprised to find the almost conqueror of Earth living with the people who had stopped him, but I was willing to give Mr. Liesmith the benefit of the doubt. It had occurred to me that he had been taken in unwillingly, and perhaps he could provide some information to my allies and I. But I was even more surprised to intercept that call to your master, hearing all how the infamous Toni Stark had taken a villain to bed. I had some theories on that, thinking it still may have been a devious ploy, but when Mr. Liesmith confirmed his affections by protecting the nation's most famous whore, I changed plans".

The Avengers all sat silently through Doom's monologue, but Toni was practically shaking in rage. She just wanted to jump the bastard, but getting Loki safe was more important. Thor was still growling, too, but it was quiet enough to go unnoticed, though Toni could feel it from where her back was pressed to Thor's side. God, though, Doom just never shut up.

"I attempted to gather information from my reluctant guest, but he was very resilient to my methods. I did note that electricity was the most effective by far, but I still got nothing. So I propose a trade of sorts. The Liesmith will be returned at this moment, but in exchange I wish for Toni Stark's metal heart".

A resound wall of various no's went up from the team. Thor's grip tightened even more, very nearly choking Toni, but she didn't really blame him. Even Loki was looking up now, eyes wide as he called out in the negative. Toni thought that maybe the narrowed a bit to see her practically in his not-brother's lap, but the situation was a little too chaotic to be drawing conclusions. She could see, however, that things were not moving along in a good direction.

So, with a hard and decisive shove to Thor, she managed to free herself, standing confidently in front of Doom. She moved quickly, then, so no one would interfere. It only took a sharp tug, after all, to free the arc reactor from her chest, detaching the wiring and holding the glowing circle in her hands before her. The engineer had to struggle to stay upright as a sharp pain rocketed through her chest, but she was proud to say that she didn't fall and she didn't flinch. "Yeah, okay. Just take it and give him back".

Oh wow, and then everything was moving and spinning and shit was going nuts. All at once, Tasha had taken the opportunity Toni had presented to throw a knife, striking at the weak point of Doom's elbow. It was enough to force Doom to drop the leash, and with that, Loki had tackled the asshole and Thor had hauled Toni back, nearly throwing her behind them all. Toni ended up on her back nearly all the way across the room, arc reactor nowhere nearby. Looking over, she could see a fight breaking out, but the desire to join in and kick ass was replace by just trying to spot Loki amongst the chaos. He was proving rather difficult to find, though.

Then, rather suddenly, there was a familiar face above hers. Staring up into Loki's green eyes, Toni couldn't help to smile just a bit, even though her heart was hurting and she felt a bit shaky. When her – Loki's – shirt was ripped rather violently away, Toni noted that the Trickster was clutching her reactor, and then he was pressing it into her chest. Mouth flooding again with the taste of coconut, Toni couldn't help but to wince a bit. Loki looked disgustingly concerned about that, so she tried to explain.

"I hate coconuts".

Loki didn't get it.

* * *

**Yay for double update days!**

**We're getting so close guys, almost to the end now.**


	11. Today Just Couldn't Get Any Worse

Soon enough, Doom was in SHIELD custody and the debriefings started. Unfortunately, there was really no way to exclude Loki from everything, especially because he was sitting there, clinging to a still-shaky Toni when Fury decided to show. It was a funny confrontation – though it was certainly an important one – with multiple guns being pointed towards the two while Toni just stared on in apparent disinterest and Loki growled.

But then Natasha was there, and so were Clint and Thor. Even a de-Hulked Bruce was moving closer, though he just kneeled at Toni's side, checking her pulse. It didn't go unnoticed that between the two men, Toni was almost completely shielded from any attacks that might be launched. She wanted to smack them both, because no matter what animosity might exist between her and SHIELD, they needed her and couldn't afford to lose her. Their concern was kind of sweet, though, and Toni was too tired for this all to be over, so she allowed them to manhandle her a bit.

"Just what the fuck is going on here!" Oh, that was Fury finally speaking up. He had this way of talking where no matter what was said, it always sounded like an order – at least that was Toni's opinion. But that had never stopped the genius from disobeying as much as possible, so she decided to speak up before anyone else did.

"Oh, just hosting a sleep-over. You know how I'm so fond of those, Nicky". She was smirking, peaking over the top of Loki's shoulder. The guns still hadn't been lowered, and Loki was still scowling. He even tried to tuck her head back down out of sight, but Toni just brushed away his hand with a huff.

"Stark, you have one of our most wanted villains wrapped around you".

"Points to you, Director Nicky, sir – man – dude".

"Stark". That was Fury's warning growl. Toni met it head on as she always did, with a smirk

"Loki's a free man now, Fury. The Big Guy in the Sky declared it so, and we've just been letting him hang out for a bit now. Keeping an eye on him, you know".

"By letting him into your bed?"

"That was a more recent development". Toni brushed that aside, because really, it hardly mattered. The question was what SHIELD was going to do now that they knew about Loki's presence. She would stop them, of course, if they tried anything towards the Trickster. But it would be nice to just avoid that shit all together. Toni wasn't actually fond of fighting with SHIELD or Fury after all, she just refused be pushed around by them. She liked to think of it as a sort of checks and balances system. "But really, Nicky, don't you have better things to do then be here, harassing me about my life choices. We all know that I do stupid and reckless things, and your shouting isn't going to change that".

"Loki Laufeyson is a known criminal entity, and he needs to be contained". Geez, Loki was practically squeezing the life out of her now, though he had flinched slightly at the name. She wiggled around a little bit in discomfort, but the god didn't let up. So she shoved at him as hard as she could. He acted like he didn't even fucking notice at first, but then he relented until Toni was allowed to stand. She did so, facing down all the guns pointed at her and dropping her trademark smirk for the most dangerous glare she could muster – the one that showed just a bit how cold and lethal and vicious she was capable of being. It wasn't something that was brought out often, because no one wanted to acknowledge that little part of her that was usually covered with sarcasm and flirtation, the part that was dead and unfeeling. But Toni would use it when she needed, and turning it on the agents, it was even enough to make them hesitate a bit.

"Loki Liesmith is a guest of Stark Tower – a guest of _me_, and any moves made against him will be counted as hostilities against my person, against the entity of Iron Man, and against everything in the Stark name. His past activities are irrelevant; he's served his time and is now under his own power to do as he chooses. Any future threat he poses is also irrelevant, because you can't arrest a man for what he may or may not do. So you can take your agents - and your guns and your threats – and shove them up your ass, Nicky. You don't get to come here and threaten one of mine".

That empowered little speech left most of the younger agents looking a little cowed, but Fury only seemed mildly put out. Toni knew that Loki had stood at some point, and was now standing at her back, but she didn't dare break eye contact with the Director. Some primitive part of her brain was screeching about predators and fleeing, but she chose to ignore that. So the genius engineer cocked an eyebrow and waited for Fury to speak.

"He stays here then. No going out in public; no going off on his own. And no kind of schemes or troublemaking at all. One thing goes wrong, Stark, and we come in and take him. Even if we have to dismantle every bit of your property and company to do it". That was all Fury had to say then, as he stalked away with a flourish of his coat. The rest of the agents filed out behind him, leaving just the Avengers and the God of Mischief behind.

A collective sigh of relief was shared by them all, but then there was some cleanup to do in the living room, and Bruce wanted to double-check Toni's vitals in the medical wing. So she followed the scientist out with Loki at her back, leaving everyone else to straighten up. She didn't speak the whole time, nor did Loki or Bruce, beyond commenting on that Toni was fine but should really rest for the next day or two. Apparently, aggravating the shrapnel in her chest was a stupid thing to do.

Loki seemed to agree with that, but when Toni teased about having done it for him, he just gave her a strange look.

* * *

As Bruce finished with examining Toni, Loki began to usher the genius upstairs to her bedroom. She had been prescribed at least one day of bed rest, and it seemed that the god was determined she get just that. As soon as the door closed behind them and Toni was forced into her bed, however, he turned on her with a scowl.

"What kind of stunt was that!" Apparently Loki had picked up on Fury's trick of asking questions that weren't questions. It was vaguely unsettling and very annoying, especially when Toni had no clue what was going on.

"What was what?", she frowned.

"You ripped the reactor out of your chest and tried to give it to Doom!"

"So?"

That got Loki to sputter to a stop in his ranting, even if it was to stare at Toni like she was completely insane and/or stupid. She would have to ask JARVIS later for a picture of his face, because the indignation there was wonderfully funny. The tension in the room was enough, though, that she managed to keep from cracking up.

Loki had his shit pulled back together quickly enough to look even more pissed than before. He stalked forward, and it was rather intimidating for a moment. But Toni wasn't about to be pushed around, so she sat still on the bed until Loki was almost pressed against her chest, staring straight down. "Do you deem your own life so worthless that you would rip out your own heart and give it to a madman!"

"First off, the arc reactor is not my heart. I can last anywhere between five to ten minutes without it, which is long enough to get one of the old reactors from my lab. Secondly, I knew Doom wasn't going to get away with it. The whole team was there, and they would have beat his ass into the ground the moment he let you free. Which he _did_, so I don't really see what the problem is". Toni met Loki's scowl with one of her own. It was aggravating to be second guessed like this. Yeah, she was reckless and pretty ridiculous some times, but he knew that; it wasn't a secret.

"You can't have known that! You can't have known that everything would work out so simply! You put your life in the hands of a misfit team and a psychotic magician".

"It was better than leaving you at his mercy!"

"A monster's safety is not worth your life!"

And there was the self-hate, normally so well hidden but now brought out. She had known about it, had heard all about his true heritage from a very drunken Thor one night, but it had never been something brought up between them. But for all that Toni could understand it, she hated it so very much. "You are not a monster! You are Loki! You are a brilliant, clever, smartassed shit who I happen to like quite a lot! At least, like you enough to have an almost heart attack for! I don't regret at all what I did because it got you back, and I would do it again without a second thought!"

Whatever that meant to Loki, Toni didn't know. She had practically thrown herself back into the pillows with an angry huff, scowling into the extra fluffy one she claimed for herself. Somehow, this didn't really feel much like resting to her, not with frustration tightening around her throat and her body coiled tight. It was a long moment later before she felt the bed dip, Loki stretching out to lay next to her. One of his hands ran through the messily short locks of her hair in a way that was so soothing.

Toni peeked an eye open to stare at her bedfellow, but Loki's face was unreadable. There was something pensive or hesitant in the way he stared at her hair, though, as if too afraid to make eye contact with her. But Toni had said her piece, and she was just patient enough to wait for Loki's.

"You… you would give your heart up for a monster?"

"I would give my heart up for you".

Finally, Loki was meeting her gaze, and she couldn't really read that either, but it looked lighter – happier – than before. It definitely made him look much more kissable, though, and Toni just had to take advantage of that.

The kiss was long, but soft and chaste. Some part of Toni's brain recognized that this was their first real kiss – where Loki lips weren't stitched shut and Toni was conscious. But it didn't really matter because this was nice and comfortable and warm. Toni smiled into it, and she could feel Loki do the same until the both had to pull away just to grin at each other.

The second kiss was dirty and passionate, and clothes were soon discarded between them. And if Toni thought the sex was amazing before, it was way better with Loki's mouth free to do all sorts of naughty things.

Even if it got them both scolded by Bruce for the next day, with two extra days of bed rest tacked on and absolutely no sex in any way for a week.

* * *

**And that is the end of this little story!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed; to hear what you all thought was lovely and really helpful.**

**So, Author's Notes:**

**There will be a sequel, or three. This is actually just a prologue chapter for the third story in this series of four, but it grew entirely out of hand and became a story of its own. The next story in the series is "Toni Stark's Relationship Adventure". It isn't going to be a proper story of its own, just a collection of shorter works about Toni and Loki's relationship, covering all sorts of topics and situations. It isn't a must read for a series as a whole, though, so it will be updated sporadically with the third story being published at the same time. That one is going to be called "Marriage Isn't For Everyone".**

**Or tl;dr:**

**This is going to be a series of four called "Toni Stark's Descent into Sex, Magic, and Madness"**

**The stories go:**

**1. Love Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be**

**2. Toni Stark's Relationship Adventure (Optional Reading)**

**3. Marriage Isn't For Everyone**

**4. Families Are Always This Messed Up**

**I hope you will all tune in for what is coming up next!**


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